Empty Darkness
by Giga Bowser NS
Summary: Luna awakens to find herself in a strange, frightening realm filled with churning darkness and eerie silence. With no idea how she'd gotten there, her only mission is to find her way back home. But this place is mysterious, terrifying and even dangerous. Along the way, she finds another pony who somehow found themselves in this strange place: Little Sweetie Belle. Can they survive?
1. Lost in the Night

Chapter 1 - **Lost in the Night  
**

Luna sat up suddenly.

Her vision was slightly hazy as she awoke, but what it beheld was nothing more than inky darkness. It was not pitch blackness; she could see a few blurry shapes, but it was difficult to make anything out. Everything was murky and concealed.

She had no idea where she was. The crisp feel of the air told her that she was outside. The neatly paved gravel beneath told her that she was in a city, town, or some other place of residence. The silence told her that she was alone.

Her first thought was of self-preservation, as she had just woken up without any explanation. She used her magic to quickly sweep over her own body, looking for injuries or maladies of any kind. She found none, which gave her at least a little relief.

Her second thought was the simple question of what had happened. Just how had she arrived at this particular moment in time? Having lived a long, turmoil-filled life, this was not the first time Luna had awoken in the middle of nowhere, injured or otherwise. The routine had become quick and efficient for her.

She was met with a roadblock, however, when she made a startling discovery. Her memory was fragmented. Bits and pieces were missing. She could remember much of the most recent day with ease. She recalled waking up, lowering the moon, eating, and attending to her duties. Everything up until the point of noon was clear in her mind.

Beyond that, however, things began to get fuzzy. She _knew_ for sure that she had "continued", for lack of a better term, through her normal life past 12 o'clock. She could recall no danger, no trouble, and nothing in her memory resembled any sort of problem whatsoever. Her train of memories simply began to taper off slowly until there was just nothing.

And now she was here.

Frowning and still concerned about this development, she turned to her third thought; her present status. She stretched her hooves, double-checking to ensure that she could move them, and began to stand up. The air felt even chillier than it had before. Being the goddess of the night, Luna was usually not affected in the least by cold temperatures. The coolness was her element. She had endured temperatures far below this in her past, so why was she feeling it so much now?

The darkness that surrounded her felt unnatural. Somehow, it did not feel like the darkness of her night. It concealed things in strange shadows, almost gripping around and consuming them. She trotted a few steps towards the closest thing she could make out. It was a while before she could see that it was a pile of wood.

It was unnerving. She felt like she was losing her sense of vision.

She glanced around, a small seed of worry growing in the pit of her stomach.

What in Equestria was going on? Where was she, and why was she here? She could find no answers from her surroundings, which was definitely not a good sign.

Luna calmed her senses and began to channel magic through her horn. It took her only a fraction of a second to cast the light spell; a basic spell that even the most talentless unicorn could easily perform. She barely even felt the simple magic as it flowed through the powerful tool that lay atop her head.

Luna watched as the light from her horn spread out into the darkness. The light and dark played with each other in strange ways. Luna watched, fascinated, for a great while as the darkness swirled and churned by the light. It looked as if the darkness were trying to fight against her spell. It looked like it was trying to _eat_ the light.

It was almost as if she were casting light into a thick bed of fog, but even that analogy didn't entirely fit. It allowed her to see her immediate surroundings a little better, but no matter how brightly she allowed her horn to glow, her range of vision did not seem to increase. The darkness was fighting back somehow, and she couldn't overcome it.

The seedling of fear grew into a small bud.

Carefully, Luna trotted along the gravel path that she had awoken on. It led her down a slight hill for a few seconds. Her light spell didn't reveal anything to her until finally she saw something to her left. At first, she thought it was another pile of wood. Her eyes widened, however, when she drew closer to it.

It was a house, or a building of some kind. Made of wood though it may have been, it was now dilapidated and destroyed. Paneling hung from the walls, slabs of wood broken or rotted away. The roof was collapsed, the windows shattered, and numerous holes littered the structure.

Gazing at it with a unique mix of fear and wonder, Luna couldn't tell if this house had been destroyed, or if it had merely been decayed by the passage of time. It could have been both, for all she knew. Now it stood in the darkness before her, broken, battered and decrepit. The frown on her face continued to grow until she forced herself to continue on and leave the broken building behind her.

She passed another one. And then another. The little bud of worry in her stomach was now a fully bloomed, black flower as she gazed around, finding destroyed buildings everywhere she looked. Her stomach churned as she found herself surrounded by a dead, shattered town.

"H…Hello?!"

The first words she spoke into this desolate place seemed to die in the air. Brief moments later, and it was as if she hadn't spoken them at all.

"Hello?" she called again, "Is anypony there?! Can you please tell me where I am?"

Silence answered her. _More_ than silence answered her. Her words were feeble and useless against this cold, dark place. Still, she was shivering. The coldness bit into her, and the darkness surrounded her. This did not look like anywhere in Equestria. It did not _feel_ like she was on Equestrian soil.

"Celestia?"

She grit her teeth and grimaced. The chilly air was like tiny icicles embedding themselves into her skin. She coursed magic through her horn and encased herself in a heating spell. Somehow, she wasn't surprised when she found that it didn't help in the slightest.

"_Hello?!_" she cried out one last time as loudly as she could, hoping against hope that somepony would hear her. But only the silence heard.

She stopped walking. Around her were the numbers upon numbers of destroyed buildings. What she stood upon could possibly have once been called a road. She gazed at the buildings through her feeble light spell to see if she could find anything noteworthy about them. All she saw was faded, painted wood and cracked stone. There were no signs of any sort.

She could feel a deep, primal fear building at the back of her mind. Centuries of ruling ponykind as their Princess had taught her how to keep this panic at bay and remain focused. She took stock of what she knew. One day, she had been happily spending time in Canterlot Castle, reading letters from Twilight with her sister, performing her duties, and relaxing. Following this, she woke up in this strange place with a fractured memory. Whatever this place was, it felt unnatural, and it seemed to be devoid of pony life. She could not explain where she was, what this place was, or even if it were somewhere real or not. She had many questions and few answers.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to calm herself further. The air tasted stale and foul.

She gazed around again, staring into the strange darkness that surrounded her. Again, she noted how it somehow did not seem to be the darkness of night. She was innately familiar with the calming dusk that came with her night, and this was not it. The growing fear in the back of her mind had not dissipated. This place was strange and alien to her. This was not the way the night was. She stood brave and suppressed her fear once again. This darkness was not her domain. Lifting her head high and pointing her horn towards the heavens, she reached out for her moon, intending to find out what time it was.

Her eyes shot open wide in abject horror.

_No…_

She whipped her head around, lighting her horn with her spell and casting out her magical reach.

_No, no, no!_

Utter despair quickly overcame her as the flower of fear exploded inside of her, causing her to shiver and feel like vomiting.

_NO! That's not possible!_

Her moon wasn't there.

It was quite simply gone. It was not anywhere in the sky, nor was it slumbering beneath the horizon. She searched everywhere, probing every inch of the celestial realm above her. She found no trace of her dear moon. As she fell to her haunches and struggled to breathe, she tried looking for the sun instead. She was met with identical results.

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…_

She was shaking her head and holding it with her hooves. Powerful, fearful tremors overcame her as the truly impossible assaulted her mind. _This isn't real,_ she told herself, _This cannot happen._ She didn't believe her own words.

Luna grabbed her stomach. It felt as if parts of her own body were drifting away from her. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't sit still. She was about to collapse. She was about to black out.

She was losing her mind.

That single thought suddenly became clear to her, and she shut her eyes tight. With deep, calming breaths, she managed to slow her heart down to a less frantic pace, and tried to clear her mind. Trying to distract herself, she thought of things that made her smile. Though she was still trembling furiously, she was beginning to feel much calmer than a moment ago. She knew that a Princess with a broken mind could do no good.

So she thought of bunny rabbits.

Her shivers subsided. Luna imagined a whole herd of tiny, fluffy bunnies bouncing around in a calm, green field. She imagined them playing with each other, snuggling with one another. She pictured one trying to hop over another, but ending up laying atop it awkwardly. As a cool, liquid calmness began to flow through her veins, she continued to think of the adorable creatures. Eventually, after a long, long time, a small smile graced her lips.

Luna's eyes slowly opened. The unreal darkness returned to her vision and she suppressed a shiver.

"Okay…" she spoke softly, relishing in the familiar sound of her own voice, "Let's figure this out…"

She rose to her hooves, thrust out her chest, and stood tall. She was silent for a moment as she gazed out upon what little she could see.

"I don't know where I am…" She spoke slowly, as if choosing her words carefully, "But…There doesn't appear to be any danger here. I am safe, for the moment." She cast her gaze upwards. "As to why my…my moon is gone…" She shivered again. "There could be any number of answers to that. I will just have to find which one is true."

She began trotting again. "I am uninjured, I am functioning fully. I have my ingenuity and my magical powers at my disposal. As long as I stay calm and think about this, I will be able to figure it out."

Luna nearly leapt out of her skin when she heard a sound off in the distance. She held a hoof to her chest where her heart was beating and exhaled. "I'm going to be fine…I'll find my way home…" Her brave face faltered for a moment before she found the strength to correct it.

"I'll figure this out."

* * *

Luna had been trotting around aimlessly for hours. She found that the 'town', for lack of a better term, was much larger than she'd thought it was. However, it was not densely built up. There were no ruins of big stone buildings or skyscrapers or the like. It was merely what seemed to be hundreds of residential houses spread over an unusually large distance.

She had, however, come upon the town limits a few times. Eventually, as she would trot in any random direction, she would come across a point where the collection of dilapidated houses simply ended.

The reason she was still exploring the town, however, was a simple one. Despite her brave face, Luna found she was reluctant to leave the town. What she saw beyond was nothing more than an empty expanse of churning darkness. There was no grass, no trees, no landmarks whatsoever. She wasn't keen to admit it, but she was afraid that if she wandered into that, she'd become hopelessly lost.

Perhaps she was lost already, however. She had been trotting restlessly up and down the faded remnants of streets for hours and hours. There was nothing about this destroyed town that caught her eye. No signs, no labels, no evidence that pony life had even been here at all. It was just a bunch of broken wood that looked like it had once been a bunch of houses.

Furthermore, Luna could see no clear cause of damage to this place. There were no burn marks on any of the wood, no splintering that appeared to be due to trauma or force; no signs of trouble whatsoever. It became increasingly evident that these houses had been destroyed by _time_, and the thought made her shiver.

Presently, she was trotting without even realizing where she was going. Finding nothing more of interest in the town, she had begun thinking. There was nothing here, she rationalized, so she was trying to convince herself to venture out and leave this ancient town behind her. Anxiety was gripping her, however, in a tight vice that she couldn't seem to shake. There was _nothing_ out there, or so it appeared. She could see herself alone, lost and starving to death in the darkness, with absolutely nothing in sight.

She stamped her hooves in frustration as she rounded a corner. _What am I going to do?!_ she thought frantically. She had lost most of her calm, collected bravery and was beginning to slowly panic. She tried to breathe deeply, but it wasn't working. She had far too many questions and absolutely _no_ answers. This was by far stranger than anything she had ever seen in her life, which was saying something. It was difficult for her to avoid feeling terrified.

She came upon the edge again. Her mind told her to turn back, and she nearly did. As she turned away, however, she caught notice of something that made her pause. Looking at the faded, broken path that led away, she noticed that it was angled upwards just ever so slightly. All of the other 'town limits' she had found were flat, but this one seemed to lead to a hill.

_A hill_, she thought, _Perhaps if I get high enough I'll be able to see over this…'fog'._ Truthfully, she didn't know what she would find if the ventured out this way. The hill might not end up being very tall at all, or there might not be anything up there except more darkness. Still, the fear of getting lost out there had not faded.

Strangely, she felt somehow _safe_ in this village. It was an odd way of thinking, she knew, but for the moment it was how she felt. So far, this village was all she knew of this place; it was the only thing that was familiar to her. In all honesty, she wanted to do nothing more than stay here amongst these buildings until somepony came to rescue her.

After a moment, she took a deep breath and began to trot up the hill. A shivering fear overcame her as she began to leave the village behind, but she ignored it. She knew she had to start being brave. Nothing good was going to get accomplished if she didn't take a few risks here and there. She needed answers; even just a few.

The darkness surrounded her. It consumed everything around her and left her vision severely hindered. She focused on placing one hoof in front of the other, occasionally stopping to make a mark in the dirt to help guide her back. There was nothing around her. She could only discern the incline that she was ascending. She did notice that it was getting steeper, which was a good sign.

An incredibly frightening sensation of being completely lost came to her, but she ignored this as well. Or, at the very least, she tried to. Her little village was gone. She was out in the darkness now. Luna just needed to focus on making it to the top of this hill. That was all she needed to do. She could focus on getting back to the village later.

She had to stop for a moment as a powerful tremor wracked her entire body.

Many minutes passed by as she continued to ascend the natural hill. She had lost count of how many marks in the dirt she had made. It felt to her like no progress was being made. She felt like the hill was infinite and she was not climbing any higher at all.

Finally, she began to notice something. The darkness was clearing. As she continued to climb, she found that she was able to see further and further ahead of her. Smiling excitedly for the first time since she'd awoken, she broke into a brisk trot up the hill. She continued to ascend and the darkness continued to fade away until the slope of the hill finally flattened out. Luna stood on the peak of the hill, having risen above the darkness.

Her smile had vanished as she stood, staring out at the land around her. She found absolutely nothing to see. All around in every direction, the land was covered with a thick, churning black cloud of darkness. It looked like a humongous, strange thundercloud, or perhaps a thick layer of black sheep's wool. There were no other landmarks in sight; no hills, no tall buildings, no trees. The only thing she could see that rose above the darkness was the hill she was currently standing on. Above her was an endless, featureless orange sky.

Luna fell to her haunches, staring out at this frightfully devoid world. She realized with a sinking feeling in her stomach that she had two options. She could either stay on this hill forever, safely above the darkness, or go back down into it. It she stayed where she was, she would surely starve to death. But if she went back down…

* * *

Luckily, Luna was able to find her way back to the destroyed town. Her marks in the ground had proven useful to her, and had led her straight back to where she had begun. Now, however, there was a frown on her face and a heavy feeling in her stomach.

Now what?

She had begun looking inside of some of the houses to see if she could find anything useful to her. A map, a light source, food. Her stomach had begun growling when she had returned to the village. An alicorn goddess such as herself did not get hungry as easily as a mortal pony, so she must have been asleep for a long time.

Though the houses contained things such as furniture, appliances and silverware, there was no food to be found. Every pantry, cupboard and refrigerator she could find was cleared out. With each unsuccessful investigation, her stomach growled louder.

More time passed. Luna continued to scavenge the town, and she continued to come up empty. She kept moving; kept pacing. She had to find something. There had to be answers somewhere around here. There had to be _something_!

She threw open a wooden door with such force that it was torn from its hinges. A heavily breathing alicorn stared in through the doorway, her eyes darting over every surface. Still nothing. Her stomach growled as she clenched her eyes shut and grit her teeth in frustration.

_There's nothing here…_ She began to shiver. _There's nothing anywhere here!_ Her breathing became erratic. _Why isn't there anything here?! Where am I?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!_

Luna raised her head up to the heavens and let loose a wild, animalistic cry of pure frustration and agony. It sounded like a fierce howl, and it seemed to echo through the surrounding darkness. She screamed and cried out until her throat began to hurt. When she finally lowered her head, she was panting, vaguely aware of something wet running down her face.

After punching the wall in sheer frustration, she quickly moved on to the next house. Nothing. She continued to the one beside that. There was nothing. Luna continued onwards. _There's nothing here! _Another house. _NOTHING! No food, no blankets, no materials…no light, no sound…_

As she was trotting towards the next nearly-identical house, she slowed to a light canter and then eventually stopped. When she was still, she once again took notice of just how quiet it was. The only thing she could hear was her own deep breathing. The silence was so prevalent. It was all around her. It was bearing down on her, and it almost seemed like the silence was _loud_ somehow. She grimaced and let out a pathetic whine.

She wanted to go home. Almost all of her confidence had already been sapped away. Somehow, she just couldn't remain brave in this place. There was an eerie, negative feeling that surrounded and covered this land. In no time it had taken the brave figure of the young alicorn princess and reduced her to a terrified foal.

She tried to ask herself _why_? What was so frightening about this place? In all the time she had been here, ever since waking up, she had not come across a single hint of danger. Truly, the worst part of what was happening to her was the lack of food. Surely she'd be able to find some eventually.

And yet, here she stood upon quivering hooves, staring around at the silent darkness that seemed to inch closer. Luna had never before shown a hint of claustrophobia nor agoraphobia, but _both_ seemed to be setting in all at once. The darkness was closing in on her, threatening to suffocate her. But beyond the darkness, there was an open, endless expanse of _nothing_. Luna's breath caught in her throat.

"Tia…" she squeaked. Luna was quickly beginning to realize that this wasn't a dream. This wasn't something simple that she could fix with a wave of a hoof. This wasn't even something she could explain.

This was a nightmare.

Her left ear perked up. Luna's eyes shot open and she stopped breathing. Swiveling her ear slightly, she tried to catch it again. _What was that…?_ She took a few soft steps to the left, pausing again to listen. _No…nothin-WAIT! There!_

She could hear something. It was faint, but she could _definitely_ hear something. Luna closed her eyes and tried to tune out all of her other senses, focusing entirely on the sound. It was so far away that she could barely tell which direction it was coming from. She trotted a few feet and then stopped to listen again. Then she trotted a few more feet and stopped once more. She continued this practice as she slowly honed in on the faint sound.

Previously, the only things she had heard were sounds that she herself made. This was something entirely new, and so it had her full attention. There was something else in this emptiness. Something that was making noise. Perhaps it was something alive.

Luna was now trotting briskly, while still focusing on her hearing. She had discerned a general direction to follow, and the sounds were growing clearer. It seemed to be soft, muffled noises in a high-pitched tone. They were gasping and sputtering in a kind of way. Luna began to canter. Was that…

…crying?

Finally, she came to a stop before one of the ruined buildings. This particular ruined building was crying. Luna stepped closer to it. Rather, something _inside_ was crying. She could hear it clearly now; it was the sound of a high-pitched voice wailing in despair. Her heart instantly ached for whomever, or whatever, was making those sounds.

She lit up her horn and gazed in through the dilapidated doorway. Nothing caught her eye except for wooden walls, ruined old furniture, and the building's collapsed roof. The sounds were coming from below. She turned her gaze downwards as a look of shock overcame her. Something was buried under there!

Wasting no time, she channeled powerful kinetic magic through her horn and gripped one of the thick, heavy beams that littered the floor. Grunting with mild exertion, she pulled it away, and then began to remove the rest of the pieces of broken wood. She didn't even stop to think about what she would find underneath. For all she knew, it could have been something vicious or hostile that would attack her as soon as it was free.

She didn't care. Something was crying and probably hurt under there.

With one final grunt, she cleared away the last of the debris. A cloud of murky dust was thrown up, and the trapped occupant lay huddled on the ground below. Luna coughed a few times, waving her hoof to clear away the dust, and gazed at who she had just rescued.

The little one who had been trapped below was curled up in a ball, trying to make herself look as small as possible, and gazing up through the dust cloud with petrified eyes. She had bruises and lacerations from being trapped under the rubble, but for the most part seemed unharmed. Her ears were flattened against her head and she was breathing in heavy, frightened gasps as she stared up at the newcomer, terrified for her life. The young foal's fur had certainly been a pristine white colour at some point, but was now muddled with dirt, and the pink and purple mane and tail she sported shared a similar fate. As the dust cleared and she was able to see her rescuer more clearly, her big, expressive eyes shifted quickly from fear to star-struck awe.

"P…Princess Luna…?" she squeaked.

Luna's gaze travelled over the tiny foal. She took notice of the small, white horn poking out from between her bangs, her adorable, petite body, and the area where her cutie mark would be if she had one. First and foremost, excitement was building within her upon having found another living soul. What's more, it was another pony. She had known immediately that she had seen this pony somewhere, and more than a few times. It only took her a few moments to remember exactly who this was.

"You are Rarity's sister."

Sweetie Belle looked as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "P-Princess…?" she murmured, a quiet fascination in her voice, "Is…that really you?"

Luna felt her lips gently curling up into a smile. "Yes, child," she spoke gently, "It is truly me. Are you hurt?"

Sweetie didn't answer her question. A huge, relieved smile found its way onto her face, and she scrambled to get up from the ground. She winced a few times as stood, but then galloped towards Luna and threw herself at the bigger pony, grasping her in a tiny hug.

Luna was taken by surprise for a moment, but then smiled and gently comforted the young pony, who was now shivering and crying. She gently patted her back and tried to calm her down.

Sweetie was heaving heavy cries as she clutched at Luna's stomach tightly, as if afraid to let go. She shivered and trembled, and it was a while before she was able to speak at all. "I…I…" She hiccuped. "I'm so glad to s-see you…I-I was so s-scared…"

"Shh, it's okay," Luna spoke comfortingly, "I'm here now."

"I…I woke up…a-and I was all alone. I-I dunno where we are, Luna…"

Luna gave a small frown. "You can't remember what happened, can you?" she asked.

Sweetie lifted her head from where she'd had it buried in Luna's fur and gazed up at the Princess. "N-no!" she replied, "I can't remember anything! H-how did I get here…?"

"I'm afraid I do not know…I cannot remember either."

Sweetie sniffled, her eyes wide open as tears ran down her cheeks. Her lip quivered. "I-it's s-so dark everywhere! And it's so cold…A-and everything's all broken!" She sniffled again and buried her head into Luna's fur once more. "A-and then the roof fell on me! It hurt…and I was so scared! I-I thought I'd be trapped here forever…!"

Luna hugged her tightly. "Are you sure you are okay? Nothing is hurt too badly?"

Sweetie shook her head. "I…I'm just so happy to see you, Luna! I thought I was g-gonna be all alone…!"

Luna smiled and closed her eyes. Truly, she was just as glad to see Sweetie as Sweetie was to see her. She had spent hours awake in this strange, frightening land all alone. She had been alone with her thoughts as they had slowly begun to consume her and drive away her bravery. The mere presence of another pony, regardless of who it was, brought so much comfort to her. She finally felt able to breathe easily.

After a while, Sweetie's cries abated and she stepped back from her embrace. She gazed up at Luna with her big green eyes and suddenly seemed to realize just _who_ she was looking at. Luna could see the very moment in her mind when she made the connection that she had just hugged the Princess and cried into her tummy.

A big, rosy blush came to her cheeks and she scrambled into a hasty bow. She winced and then said, "Ah! I'm sorry, Princess. I-I-I didn't mean to…I mean, I…"

Luna gave a lighthearted chuckle. "That is all right, there's no need to worry. You needed someone to hold on to, and I was only happy to oblige." She took a moment and gazed at the surrounding darkness. "I do believe all formality is out the window at this point…"

Sweetie stood up from her bow, wincing again. "P-Princess…?" she stammered, "W-where are we…?"

Luna frowned. "I do not know. This place is…strange…" Luna was carefully choosing her words so as not to frighten the young foal too much at once. She knew that she would have to tell Sweetie that the moon and sun weren't there, but decided to hold off on that for a little while. At least until Sweetie had calmed down a little bit.

"W…W…" Sweetie's breathing was heavy as she spoke, "What are we gonna do? H-how do we get…home?"

Luna was silent. She gazed down at the young foal, carefully trying to decide how to respond. She considered telling her that everything was going to be all right, and that she knew how to get home. She considered telling Sweetie that she was safe and there was nothing to be worried about. She considered these things as she stared into the foal's big, green eyes. Sweetie was giving her a solid unbroken stare. Though the filly was quivering slightly, she was breathing slowly and evenly and wasn't shedding any more tears. Panic was sure to be flowing through her entire body, but it seemed she was trying not to let it show.

_She's trying to be brave._

Luna sighed and spoke. "To be honest, I do not know. This place feels unnatural, and this darkness is something so strange and alien to me. I don't know where we are, and I don't know how to proceed." She stared down into the frightened filly's eyes, paused for a moment, and then smiled. "But we're not alone any more, you and I," she said, extending one of her hooves, "We can keep each other safe. Right?"

Sweetie slowly got to her hooves and stepped forward. She held up one of her tiny hooves and pressed it against the bottom of Luna's much larger one. "Y-yeah…"

Luna leaned down so that she was closer to her face. "I'm sure if we work together, we'll figure something out."

"Y-you think so…?"

Luna then set herself down on the ground and motioned towards her back. Sweetie gasped in astonishment. "Y…You're letting me…ride you?" Her eyes were sparkling.

Luna nodded and smiled. "Climb on. You'll be much safer on my back."

There was silence for a moment as Sweetie gazed on, almost as if not comprehending what was unfolding. Then, finally, a small smile tugged at her lips. "Th-thank you, Luna!" Her eyes shot open. "Ah! I mean, Princess, Your Highness," she stammered.

Luna giggled. "Feel free to call me Luna."

Sweetie was smiling brightly now, all of her fear seemingly forgotten. With a newfound upbeat gait in her step, she trotted over to the much larger alicorn and carefully climbed onto her back. Once the filly was securely seated on top of her, Luna rose up from the ground and turned to exit the house.

Sweetie was giggling.

"What's so funny?" Luna asked, bemused.

"I just can't believe I get to ride you!" she said, "This is like everypony's dream!"

Luna was intrigued by this. "Is it, now?" she said.

"Heehee, yeah! Everypony wants a ride with the Princesses! Some of them won't ever say it, but I know. It's just…y'know, a really special thing."

Luna smiled as she began to trot through the darkness into the heart of the destroyed town. The two continued to smile and chat with one another as they left behind the area where Sweetie had awoken. They were both so immensely happy that they had somepony to talk to, and that neither was alone any more.

And so, neither of them noticed the dark form shift through the darkness as it followed them.

* * *

_Cover Art by a girl that likes to arty. ("thisgirllikestoarty" on Tumblr)  
_


	2. Afraid of the Dark?

Chapter 2 - **Afraid of the Dark?  
**

"Luna? Are you scared?"

The question hung heavily in the air and made Luna stop and pause. She took a moment to gaze at her dreary surroundings and think about just what kind of situation she had found herself in. The dilapidated town stared back at her, haunting and eerie. The churning darkness glared at her, daring her to venture out into it.

They had been meandering around town for 10 or 20 minutes, and now found themselves at the edge once more. With Sweetie Belle on her back, the constant feeling of companionship had been comforting, to say the least. Her state of mind had drastically improved since she'd found the young filly. The fear engineered by this strange place, however, would not be vanquished so easily.

She craned her neck and gazed back at Sweetie, who was looking up at her with an adorable little frown. The two of them had found each other, and now they were a team. Luna knew not what would happen, and feared for the safety of the both of them. While she had been grateful to find a companion, there was a horrible worry in the pit of her stomach. Why did it have to be such a young, innocent foal trapped here with her? This place could be dangerous!

"A little bit, Sweetie," she said in answer to the filly's question. She had quickly realized that this was not a time nor a place for lies, even the smallest ones. "I am unsure of what we should do next, to be honest. I don't know what to make of this place, and it definitely unnerves me. There's just something…_wrong_ here…" She gazed back at Sweetie Belle again. "Are you scared?"

Sweetie gazed away and nodded demurely.

Luna gave a sad smile and then said, "I'll tell you what. You keep me from being afraid, and I'll keep you from being afraid! Sound good?"

Sweetie turned back to her and, after a moment, a small smile appeared. "S-sure, Luna…" she said softly.

"Good!" Luna said with a smile, "Don't worry. I'll do my best to get us home, okay?"

"Okay!"

Presently, Luna was walking along the edge of town, with the series of former houses to her left. Despite her previous open honesty, there were two things she had not yet told Sweetie. First, there was the matter of her missing moon and the missing sun. The mere thought made her shiver and threatened to consume her mind, and so she avoided thinking about it altogether.

The second was that she was still terrified of leaving the village.

"Should we stay here, or should we go somewhere?" Sweetie asked, catching Luna off guard at the coincidence of their similar thoughts.

"Uhm…" she stumbled, "Either option has pros and cons."

She felt the filly shift on her back. "Has what?"

"Leaving and staying…Both could be good, but both could also be bad," she clarified.

"Oh…Yeah, I guess you're right…"

The air was then filled with a very loud grumbling noise, causing the princess to stop in her tracks. When it had stopped, she turned back to Sweetie and looked at her.

"Wow…" Sweetie mumbled, "I just realized…I'm _really_ hungry…"

Luna winced, thinking about her own aching stomach. Being the alicorn that she was, she could only imagine how hungry the little filly must've felt.

"You didn't happen to find any food did you?" Sweetie asked.

Luna shook her head. "I'm afraid not…"

She heard a little moan come from the foal.

As she continued to walk along the perimeter of town, she cast her head around in the darkness and gazed at what little there was to behold. "I've searched this town about as much as I can, and I have not found anything here besides rubble and yourself." That feeling of aloneness was beginning to creep back, and she fought to shake it off. "There doesn't seem to be anything here except…this ruined town."

"Well…Should we go somewhere else?"

Luna stopped walking. Sweetie's question had been innocent enough, and even quite logical. All it did, however, was amplify Luna's fears of the outside. She turned her head slowly and gazed out at the emptiness that lie beyond the town. A dizzying mass of swirling, churning blackness met her eyes.

She gulped.

"Luna…?"

The princess sighed. "Leaving town would make sense, yes," she spoke, "but it's also very dangerous. We could get lost out there." She continued to trot along the precipice.

"I guess you're right…" Sweetie murmured, "but we can't stay here forever."

Luna was no stranger to those words. "I know…" she replied, "It is not an easy choice to make."

The air was once again filled with the groaning of Sweetie Belle's empty stomach. She tried to stifle a moan.

"Perhaps," Luna pondered, "if we gather enough broken wood, I could leave trail. That way, we could see where- AUGH!"

Luna's piercing cry suddenly filled the air as she tumbled to the ground. Sweetie Belle was thrown from her back and cried out in surprise as she toppled through the dirt. The alicorn grit her teeth in pain and kicked out wildly with her back hooves. She struggled fruitlessly on the ground for a few moments before coursing magic through her horn and throwing a kinetic spell frantically in the direction of her hind legs.

The thing that had bitten her was thrown loose, and she scrambled on the ground to put some distance from it. She heard Sweetie Belle scream. Backpedaling furiously, she saw the deep bite marks and the dripping blood on her left hind leg. Once she had caught her breath she peered through the darkness, trying to see her assailant.

It was some kind of four-legged creature with scruffy, black fur. It was such a thick, dark shade that, in the churning darkness, it appeared to be a silhouette. It was hunched forward like a rabid wolf, baring its bloodied teeth. It appeared thin and scraggly, but did not seem the least bit weak. Drool dripped from its maw, a clear sign of its bloodlust. Most frightening about the creature, however, were the eyes. They glowed an eerie yellow light; dim amongst the surrounding darkness but still shining.

Luna felt Sweetie move to a protective position behind her. "Wh-what is that thing?!" she cried out in terror.

The shadowy creature didn't give Luna a chance to respond. It wasted no time in lunging towards her, aiming directly for her neck. Sweetie screamed in horror, but Luna send the creature flying back with a blast of kinetic magic. The creature didn't seem fazed in the least. It quickly got to its paws and lunged again. This time, Luna reached out with her magic to suspend the creature in midair.

As it floated in an aura of deep blue magic, Luna studied it quickly. She saw large, sharp claws on each of its paws and got a much closer look at its razor-like teeth. Beyond that, however, the creature was almost entirely cloaked in jet black fur. It appeared to her like a malnourished wolf or coyote, though it seemed to have the energy of a fully fed one.

"Luna…!"

The princess had only been holding the creature for three seconds when, suddenly, it slipped from her magical grasp and dropped to the floor. Luna barely had the time to react in the split-second between it getting lose and it attacking her. She did the only thing she had time to do; she ducked.

As the creature went sailing over her head, she quickly picked up Sweetie with her magic. The filly screamed again, and Luna quickly got to her hooves. She ignored the sharp, shooting pain in her hind leg as she struggled to gallop away, trying once again to put distance between herself and the creature.

She placed Sweetie on her back. "Hold tight!" she instructed as she turned to face it. The creature was already stalking towards her aggressively. Luna decided to put an end to this quickly. She focused powerful magic through her horn and cast out a sleeping spell. It shot through the air and quickly surrounded the advancing animal. This spell was powerful enough to knock out an Ursa Major. Against this small creature, it had no chance whatsoever.

The spell dissipated, but the creature continued to step forward, its glowing eyes locked hungrily upon the two ponies. Luna's eyes shot open. Quickly, she focused her magic and cast another sleeping spell. It too surrounded the creature for a few seconds before simply fading away.

She leapt back deftly as it made a jump towards her, swiping with its claws. She cast out a paralysis spell to incapacitate it. She cast a teleportation spell, intending to send it to the top of that hill. She even cast an incineration spell.

All of her magic completely dissipated once it reached the creature. Luna was now truly beginning to panic.

The creature leapt at her again, seemingly taking advantage of her momentary distraction. She reacted reflexively with a weak burst of kinetic force. As she backed up frantically, she saw the creature drop to the ground, its advances momentarily halted.

"Luna!" Sweetie exclaimed.

In the very edge of her peripheral vision, she saw Sweetie's hoof outstretched to her right. She cast her vision in that direction, gazing in between the destroyed homes. Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw three more sets of glowing eyes staring at her through the darkness.

Her breath catching in her throat, she stepped back frantically, trying to get all four of them within her vision. They were advancing faster now, growling as drool dripped from their hungry maws. She continued to back up along the ground, her fear building exponentially.

"Wh…What do we do…?" she heard Sweetie whimper into her ear.

As if part of a coordinated attack, the four creatures all leapt forward suddenly, each at a slightly different angle. Two went to either side to cut off some of her escape routes, while the other two jumped at her, fangs bared.

Before Sweetie even had a chance to scream, Luna grit her teeth and focused all of her energy into one powerful kinetic blast. It shot from her horn, sending the two attacking creatures flying backwards, while also knocking the two flanking beasts to the ground.

And then she turned and ran.

Luna's hooves pounded the ground furiously as she fled, trying to put as much distance between the two of them and those creatures as she could. She felt Sweetie's hooves holding onto her neck, and would continue running as long as she felt them there. She cast a few glances backwards, but the darkness consumed most of what she could see.

Her mind was racing as she fled, and her heart was pounding. _Her magic hadn't worked._ Luna had used one of the most powerful sleeping spells known by ponykind. It was the kind of spell that could work on any living thing except perhaps a fully-grown dragon. And the creature had shrugged it off as if she'd cast a small breeze at it.

In fact, the creature hadn't even seemed to notice it.

She was panting heavily, fleeing blindly from the danger that may or may not have been pursuing her. She had tried everything. Was her magic disabled somehow? She could still cast it, and her light spell worked just fine. The only thing that seemed to affect the beasts at all was the kinetic spells she used to push them back. So far, it was her only weapon.

"Luna…!" she heard Sweetie exclaim from her back, "I don't see them…!"

She slowed to a moderately fast gallop and turned to look behind her. As before, she couldn't see anything in the churning darkness. Were those creatures still back there? Had she lost them? Luna had absolutely no idea, and this terrified her.

It was only now that she was noticing how painful it was to breathe. Her heart was hammering furiously inside of her chest and her lungs felt empty even when they were full. She was quickly forced to come to a stop, whereupon she hung her head and caught her breath.

She could hear Sweetie Belle breathing heavily too, but there was a slight moaning in her voice as she did so. After a few deep breaths, Luna brought her head back up and gazed at the foal. Sweetie's eyes were wide and panicked, and her head was darting about as she looked all around. Her face was stained with many rivulets of tears.

Her own breathing finally under control, Luna cast a different kind of spell. She coursed magic through her own body, amplifying her sense of hearing, while also tuning out the sounds that the two of them were making. She stood for a few minutes listening carefully. Absolute silence rang in her ear, welcome and unwelcome at the same time.

"I…" Luna panted, still slightly out of breath, "I think we lost them…"

"Are you sure…?" Sweetie whimpered. She was quivering and breathing unevenly.

"It's fine, Sweetie," Luna said, "I can't hear them any more. They're gone. Calm down."

This did seem to calm the frightened foal down. She took a few deep breaths and hugged herself with her hooves, trying to stop her own frantically beating heart.

Luna closed her eyes, held a hoof to her head, and gave a tremendous sigh of relief.

"What were those things…?" Sweetie said in a voice that was almost a whisper.

"I…I don't know…They definitely seemed quite dangerous."

"Were they wolves?"

Luna shook her head. "They were not like any creature I have ever seen in Equestria before. Their body shape and characteristics were unique."

"They were scary…" Sweetie mumbled, "They looked evil…"

Luna thought back to their glowing eyes. She thought back to how her magic hadn't worked. For such small creatures, they seemed to pose a large threat to the two of them. She turned her head and cast her eyes at her hind leg, where blood was still trickling out of her bite wounds. She cast a simple spell and closed the wounds, though the memory of the pain she had felt when it had bitten her remained. If one of those things got to Sweetie Belle…

"Um…Luna?"

Luna returned her gaze to the foal on her back. "Yes?"

Sweetie was silent for a moment. She was gazing out at their barely-visible surroundings. "…Where are we?"

Luna followed her gaze. Now that her panic had faded and her mind was much clearer, she was finally able to pay attention to where she was. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned a quick circle, gazing out in all directions. There was nothing she could see except the ground beneath her hooves.

The town was gone.

With growing fear, she realized that she must have left the town and ran away from it when she had flown from the attackers. That strange, unfamiliar fear that was a mix of agoraphobia and claustrophobia was setting in, and causing the princess to quiver. She tried not to let it show.

Where was the town? Where was _anything_? _Was_ there anything?

"Where…" Sweetie mumbled, "Where do we go now?"

"Well…I…" Luna faltered. This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid by staying inside of the town. Now, she was lost in the darkness without a direction to follow. She had been running for less than five minutes, but was already hopelessly lost and turned around. Her sense of direction meant nothing.

"We should…try to find the town again, I think…"

"The town?" Sweetie replied, "But that's where those…things were!"

Luna frowned. "I know, Sweetie…But what else are we to do? Who knows what we could find out here? We could be wandering for days and find nothing…" She had to pause to suppress a tremble. "But…I don't know which way it is any more…"

She felt Sweetie moving about on her back. "Uhm…" she muttered, "Could you…fly up, maybe?"

Luna turned back to gaze at her. "Fly?"

"Maybe this is like fog," Sweetie reasoned, "Could you see above it if you flew up high?"

Luna turned back and glanced at her folded wings. The thought had never occurred to her to fly above the clouds. She knew that there was an 'end' to the darkness up there; she'd seen it. Perhaps it had been the unusual claustrophobia that had prevented her from realizing that she could just fly through the air.

"That's a good idea, Sweetie," she said, "I found a hill next to the town earlier and I climbed it. I'll see if I can see it from here."

Luna felt Sweetie's hooves tighten around her neck. "Go for it, Luna! You can do it!" she said, excitement and encouragement in her voice.

The alicorn nodded and took a deep breath. She was still tentative about flying through the churning muck that was this darkness, but rationalized that it was probably their best option at the moment. Her wings were quite powerful and the sky was as much her domain as the ground below was.

"Okay," she said before extending her wings to their full glory, "Hold on tight and keep your eyes peeled!"

"Got it!" Sweetie replied.

Then, with a powerful downward stroke, she lifted herself off the ground and began to ascend.

Almost immediately, something felt wrong. The air did not give beneath her wings like she expected it to. It did not seem to flow properly. The air felt thick and constricting, almost as if she were flapping her wings through water as opposed to air. Regardless of this, she continued to pour strength into her wings to take them higher.

Only a few seconds after takeoff, the ground vanished beneath them. Her heart beat frantically as she found herself completely surrounded by the darkness in every single direction. It was incredibly dizzying, but she fought hard to retain her composure.

The two had only lifted about 25 or 30 feet above the ground, but already something was going wrong. The clouds of darkness seemed to get thicker the more they rose. It was becoming harder and harder to move her wings, and this was happening at an alarming rate. She grit her teeth, struggling to propel herself through the murky air.

More than that, however, something was happening to her mind. She had no idea why such a thing would be occurring, but she recognized it instantly. As she rose and left the ground behind her, things began to change and break down. It all happened at an incredibly fast pace; so fast that she could hardly register everything that was occurring.

It felt like her vision was swimming. Her eyes weren't getting heavy and she wasn't getting fatigued, but rather it felt like her vision could not remain still. Her muscular functions did not feel correct. Though she knew her four legs were dangling straight below her, it _felt_ like they were twisted into impossible contortions. There was a horrible buzzing sensation that was neither sound nor vibration, but attacked her mind all the same. Her head was being squished and molded. It felt like she had submerged tens of thousands of feet below the ocean. It felt like her stomach was hanging out of her mouth.

By now, her wing functions had ceased proper operations. She wobbled them around futilely, but it was a lost cause. Before long, she was plummeting towards the ground. She felt the simultaneous sensation of falling down, as well as falling up. Her mouth let out a strange groaning sound, and her unfocused eyes looked at the approaching ground in a dead gaze. The alicorn, damaged beyond repair, sailed to the ground below and collapsed upon it in a crumpled heap.

When she next opened her eyes, she felt extremely tired and weak. She groaned as she pushed herself up onto her hooves. Her head felt heavy and her vision was struggling to focus. After a moment of light-headedness, she realized that she had just been unconscious. How long she had been out, she did not know.

She tried to figure out what had just happened. Her memories were clear enough. As soon as she'd taken off and begun to ascend through the clouds, everything had gone wrong with her body. It was as if the darkness itself had been latching onto her, draining her energy, and clamping down upon her.

It has been completely terrifying.

She groaned for a moment, and then something suddenly clicked in her brain. "Sweetie?" she called out, casting her gaze around. Panic struck her as she realized that the foal was not with her. She wasn't anywhere within her limited field of vision.

Luna was instantly on her hooves. "Sweetie Belle?!" she called out into the darkness, but there was no response. She began to pace carefully around in the dark, using her light spell to extend her vision as far as possible.

Her terrified mind was running wild. The two of them were in a wide, unmarked field in the middle of this darkness. She could be five meters from the foal and not even realize it. She came to the horrible realization that if Sweetie were unconscious as well, then it was quite possible that she would never find her. Worse, Sweetie couldn't fly. She might be seriously injured. Or worse…!

She shook these terrible thoughts out of her head. _No!_ she told herself mentally, _Stop that! You are going to find her! She's going to be okay! _Luna continued her frantic search, casting her glowing horn from left to right as she desperately tried to find her companion. "Sweetie?!" she called again and again. Only mere minutes into her search, and she could no longer recall where she had woken up. She was lost in this endless sea of darkness, and so was her friend.

There was a soft, gentle moan.

Luna locked on to the minute sound and quickly dashed along the ground. To her immense relief, the darkness finally revealed the white filly to her, who was just starting to wake up. Luna trotted over and knelt down next to her. Other than a few dirty stains and a messy mane, she didn't seem to have any injuries from the tumble.

"Sweetie…! Sweetie, wake up! Are you okay?"

The filly's eyes fluttered open, and after a moment they focused on the concerned alicorn. "Luna…?" she murmured.

Luna's lips formed an incredibly relieved smile. "It's me, Sweetie. I'm here. Are you hurt?"

Sweetie groaned slightly as she raised herself into a sitting position. "Um…No, I think I'm okay. I'm just kinda sore."

"Thank heavens for that."

The filly gazed up to the alicorn with concerned eyes. "What happened?"

Luna frowned and slowly cast her gaze skyward. "I'm not sure…" she murmured, "I don't think I can fly through this…"

"Wh-what?!" Sweetie exclaimed, shocked, "What do you mean?"

"As soon as I left the ground, it was as if this darkness were trying to force me back down. It felt like my head was spinning and my stomach was churning."

"I…felt that too," Sweetie replied, "but I thought I was just…y'know…getting dizzy."

Luna shook her head. "Sweetie, I want you to promise me something."

"Huh? What is it, Luna?"

"I want you to promise that you'll stay as close to me as possible, okay?" Luna spoke, turning her head to gaze back down at the filly, "There is something eerie and unnatural about this…darkness. It messes with your head and, apparently, disables flight. I want you to say safe, and to do that you need to stay with me as much as you can. Okay?"

Sweetie had a look of worry upon her face, but she gulped and said, "O-okay, Luna. I promise."

Luna nodded, though she did not smile. Once again, she had to fight to stave off panic. She was now, for all intents and purposes, a grounded pony. It seemed that her pegasus magic would not work for her, and so she would be confined to the ground. This was troubling to her, though at the same time she wondered if it really made much of a difference. What was there to see above the clouds anyway?

The issue arose when it came to evading danger.

"Hop on," Luna spoke, lowering her front end forward so Sweetie could climb onto her back. The filly did so without a word. Once she was settled, Luna rose back up and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"So…Now what?" Sweetie murmured, barely above a whisper.

Luna stared forward silently for a few moments. She was asking herself the same question. They were directionless and without a plan, lost in a featureless grass-less field and surrounded by darkness. Now that they had seen that there were indeed creatures inhabiting this world, Luna knew that danger could be anywhere. There was a sense of loyalty and dedication that the princess felt, now that she had Sweetie Belle to protect. She knew that no matter what happened, she had to ensure that the filly was kept safe. There would be no question.

The feeling was overwhelming. It was too much.

"We…" Luna began, "We only have one option, Sweetie." She slowly turned in a complete circle, taking in the monotonous darkness all around her. "We have to just pick a direction and go."

She felt the filly tremble. "B-but…" she whimpered, "W-which way do we go?"

Luna's ears then picked up a familiar sound, followed by Sweetie's painful moans. She knew in her mind that, first and foremost, the two needed to find food. Luna could probably last a few more weeks, but Sweetie was still a young foal. She wouldn't survive much longer without nutrition in her belly. It wouldn't be long before the search for food escalated from critical to an outright emergency.

"It doesn't really matter what direction we pick, Sweetie. We can't see anything anyway. Why don't you pick one?"

"What?" Sweetie piped up, "Me?"

Luna looked back and tried to smile. "Sure! I have a feeling that you've got a lucky hoof."

Sweetie held her hoof up to her face in confusion. "I…do?"

"I'm sure that if you pick which way we go, then we're sure to find something!"

"But…" Sweetie protested, "What if I pick the wrong way? What if I pick a way to go and then we just walk and walk forever and ever?"

Luna frowned slightly. "Well…" she spoke softly, "I have about the same chance of making that mistake as you do, don't I?"

"Y-yeah…I guess…"

Luna smiled. "Just pick one, Sweetie. We can always change directions later."

"Um…All right…" Sweetie said with uncertainty. She gazed around at the unremarkable surrounding for a few moments before holding up one of her hooves. "Thaaat way…?"

"You've got it," Luna said. Wasting no time, she turned in the direction of Sweetie Belle's hoof and began to canter off into the darkness.

* * *

In times of turmoil, Luna knew that it was important to be thankful. She paused presently and took a moment of clarity. She was thankful that the both of them were unharmed physically. Sweetie still seemed shaky on her hooves, but Luna chalked that up entirely to a lack of nutrition.

Luna was thankful that the two of them had not been attacked since the incident at the edge of town. They had come across no further creatures of any kind, and so remained safe for the time being.

She was very thankful, though, that they had eventually made it out of the seemingly endless field. Where they were now was not much different; a few hills and rocks with a couple of dying plants. It was something, though.

Luna sighed and closed her eyes. She was thankful that they had found firewood that could be used. She was thankful that she could still perform her incinerating spell to set them ablaze.

Silver linings were hard to come by sometimes, and so Luna was grateful that she had some. No matter how small they may have been.

Sweetie Belle yawned. She was curled up at Luna's side as the two of them lay before the fire. Unsurprisingly to Luna, it did little to warm them up from the bitter cold. Luna had one of her wings draped over the filly, trying to offer her some small respite from the chilly air.

It had been a long day of monotonous cantering. An unreal amount of _nothing_ had passed by as the alicorn had continued to place one hoof before the other. Many times during the journey, she had questioned whether she was moving forwards or not. It had been a strange, almost sickening feeling.

Finally they had come across this area and had decided that their energy for the day had been depleted. Though the landscape had changed, they had found nothing of interest. This place was so _empty_. It was as if they were walking through a dead world.

Sweetie moaned from beneath Luna's wing as her stomach growled again. Luna's heart panged and her stomach churned for entirely different reasons. Not once had Sweetie mentioned how hungry she was, but it was plain to see that she was suffering. Luna knew that the clock was ticking, but also knew that there were hardly any options to pursue. She couldn't even forage for food while Sweetie was sleeping, for fear that she'd lose her way and never find the filly again.

Sweetie was trying to suppress her groans, but it was of no use. Luna gazed down at her with a worried frown. The filly's face was screwed up in discomfort and misery as she lay, clutching at her empty stomach. Luna instantly felt like crying. There was a feeling welling up inside of her that made her feel as if this were her fault, though she knew it wasn't. To her, at that moment, nothing mattered more than ending this young foal's suffering.

She had felt like this once upon a time. Where had it gone?

"Sweetie?" Luna whispered in a gentle voice.

The filly opened her eyes and gazed up at Luna with a heavy frown. "Hm…?" she mumbled.

"Would you like me to tell you about when Celestia and I were little fillies?"

Sweetie blinked. It looked as if her brain were failing to register something. "Wh…What?"

Luna smiled as she thought back to the days of millennia past. Back before many things mattered, and days were filled simply with two young alicorns having the time of their life.

"I have to admit," Luna spoke, "I was quite adorable back then."

A look of comical disbelief appeared on Sweetie's face, almost looking like a smile. "You used to be a little filly?"

Luna chuckled airily. "Well of course. Everypony was a little colt or filly at some point, even Celestia and I."

"I…I'm having a hard time imagining that."

She chuckled again. "Well, perhaps I can help you with that. Close your eyes, Sweetie."

The filly complied and shut her eyes while Luna, meanwhile, lit up her horn. She called to mind a particularly fond image of her younger self and fed the image into her horn. An aura appeared around Sweetie's head for a moment, and then she gasped loudly.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, "Luna, you are _so cute!_"

Luna couldn't help but grin at Sweetie's reaction. "Heehee…That's me when I was only a few decades old."

Sweetie Belle was now smiling brightly and laughing as she looked at the image behind her closed eyes. "You're like the cutest thing I've ever seen!" she gushed, "Look at your little wings and your tiny hooves! Oh my gosh, and your big eyes!"

Sweetie blinked open her eyes and found herself gazing up at the adult version of said adorable filly. She blushed furiously. "Um, I mean…You were…pretty cute, Luna."

Luna laughed heartily at her embarrassment. "If there is one thing I can be proud of," she spoke, "it would be how adorable I used to be."

Sweetie gazed away and shuffled her hooves. "You're still pretty now, Luna."

There was a warmness in Luna's heart. "Aw, thank you Sweetie." She then told her to close her eyes again and sent her another image.

"Oh!" Sweetie exclaimed, "Oh my heavens! Oh, Luna! I can't take it Luna! I can't handle it." She was holding a hoof to her chest and smiling from ear to ear. "_Look at you!_" she squealed, "You're all wrapped up in a little blankie!"

Luna blushed slightly. "I was cold," she said simply.

"Awwwww! I wanna give little you a hug!"

"And here is my sister as a young filly," Luna continued. As she brought forth images of her sister from the past, there was a twinge of pain in her heart. She still had no idea where Celestia was right now, and she missed her dearly. She brushed the pain away, however. This was a time for cheering up Sweetie Belle.

"Awww, she's so cute too!" Sweetie cooed, "Oh wow! She's got a pink mane."

"Heh…" Luna chuckled, "I always thought she looked better with a pink mane."

Sweetie opened her eyes and gazed up smiling at the princess. "You two were so cute! I wish I could've seen you two back then! We could've played and had fun!"

"You wanna know a secret?" Luna said with a smirk, "I was born after my sister was, but I figured out flying first."

Sweetie laughed and smiled even brighter.

"You should've seen Tia trying to figure out how to flap her wings properly. She used to be so terrible at it!"

Sweetie tried to stifle her giggles. "'Tia'?"

Luna's ears perked up and she held a hoof to her mouth. "Oops! Oh goodness." She chuckled good-heartedly. "Don't tell her I said that," she said with a smile, "Tia only really tolerates it when I call her that."

"Heehee…I think it's cute."

"One time," Luna continued, "We both went exploring in these old creepy woods while the moon was out. Tia kept telling me over and over that she wasn't scared. To her credit, she definitely put on a brave face. But when a branch snapped and fell right behind her, she leapt out of her skin and screamed like a banshee."

Both ponies shared a laugh as they imagined the scenario.

"She was so scared," Luna said through her laughter, "that she brought up the sun and wouldn't put it back down until we got back home. It was one in the morning!"

Sweetie continued laughing for a few more moments. As her laughter died down, she found her gaze drifting up to the murky sky above them. Her smile slowly faded into a small, worried frown. Luna followed her gaze.

"I wish…" Sweetie murmured, "I wish she could bring the sun out right now and make this fog go away…I can't even tell if it's day or night."

Luna turned her gaze back towards the filly. Sweetie turned to look back at her.

"I mean…No offense, Luna…I just want this scary dark fog to go away…"

Luna stared in silence at Sweetie for a few moments. She felt her heart beat in her chest, and could hear the quiet, subdued breathing of the both of them. Beyond that, crippling silence was all around them, as was the chill in the air and the churning darkness.

"Sweetie…" she spoke with a heavy voice, "I…need to tell you something that I found out."

Sweetie tilted her head and frowned in concern. "What…?"

There was a heavy, dreading feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she knew she had to tell Sweetie. This was important, and she couldn't just hide it.

"Before I found you…I tried to reach out and find my moon. I tried to find the sun as well, but…" She gulped. "Sweetie, they aren't there."

For the second time, Sweetie blinked in confusion. "Wh…What…?!"

"The sky is empty, Sweetie. My moon and Celestia's sun aren't there. I don't know where they are, and I don't know what this means, but…"

She gazed at the trembling foal, who was already beginning to shed tears. She extended her wing and drew Sweetie closer with it, hugging her warmly and snugly against her body. Sweetie was starting to lose control, and Luna wanted to make sure that she was there to keep her safe and keep her calm. It was hard news to swallow, but if they were both going to get out of this alive, then Sweetie needed to know the truth.

"…I don't think we're in our world anymore."


	3. Lost Forever

Chapter 3 - **Lost Forever**  


Luna's ear perked up.

Her eyes shot open and she rose her head up. Quickly, she took status of her surroundings. She and Sweetie Belle were still curled up next to one another, exactly where the two of them had fallen asleep. She saw Sweetie's chest rise and fall slowly as she slept softly, having fallen asleep after a long, painful cry. Their firewood had burnt down to a blackened crisp, the fire having long since gone out.

Luna carefully draped a wing over top of the tiny foal, keeping her out of sight. Her eyes swiveled quickly through the endless darkness that surrounded them. A monotonous array of swirling nothing met her gaze. Her breath was held and her muscles were tensed, ready to pounce. A shining blue aura began to surround her horn.

_Fwoosh!_ The air around her powerful kinetic blast shimmered and the ambushing creature was sent flying back, letting loose a cry of shock. Instantly she was on her hooves, her horn still glowing as she picked up Sweetie Belle in a telekinetic grasp and placed the awakening unicorn on her back.

"Uwahh?!" Sweetie cried out in terrified confusion.

"Hold on!" were Luna's only instructions before she gave a powerful flap of her wings, propelling them both backwards through the fog and away from the three creatures she had detected.

Two more concussive blasts came from her horn, sailing into the darkness and disappearing form sight. Though she couldn't follow their trajectories, the two yowls of pain that rang out into the air informed her that she had hit her targets.

There was no time to stick around, though. She quickly made an about face and raised her hooves, poised to dash off in the opposite direction. However, she instead let out a cry of surprise and quickly fell to the ground, just barely ducking underneath the leaping form of yet another creature.

Luna had to remind herself not to roll away, and instead scrambled to her hooves while turning to face this new aggressor. It also turned around, standing its ground and glaring menacingly at her. Sweetie gasped in shock while Luna merely gazed at it, observing it.

It was a _lot_ larger than the creatures they had seen previously. This one appeared more like an Equestrian wolf, though it was as tall as she was. It stood on powerful-looking limbs, each ending with a massive set of razor-sharp claws. Its teeth were just as sharp, and it also had a pair of large canine fangs that looked like blades. Its growl was low and rumbling, and its eyes were glowing a dim yellow. It too was pitch black aside from the eyes, and its fur looked almost razor sharp. In fact, its tail looked like a sharpened weapon.

Luna deftly leapt back as the wolf jumped forward and made a swipe at her. She lit up her horn and sent it back slightly with a kinetic blast. It shook off the blow and padded up towards her again, tensing its muscles and getting ready to leap. Her horn was already lit and ready to send it back again.

A second low, rumbling growl made her pause however. She shot her head back, as did Sweetie, and saw that a second wolf had approached her from behind. They were surrounded. Sweetie Belle began to whimper in fear.

Luna kept her horn aglow as she frantically whipped her head back and forth, trying to keep an eye on both of the large creatures at the same time. Neither of them immediately pounced. It seemed these ones had caught onto the fact that she could repel them with her horn's magic. They instead began to circle around her in opposite directions; predators circling their prey. Luna danced on her hooves, trying to keep them both in sight. It was impossible, however. They were exactly opposite from each other, making it so that she could not keep both of them inside of her field of vision at once. All of her escape routes were cut off, as she could not fly in this fog.

One of them made a move towards her, but she faced it down and intensified the glowing of her horn. It backed off accordingly. Luna kept her breathing even, facing off against her two combatants. She was hesitant to simply blast one of them with her horn, as the other one would no doubt seize the opportunity and jump her from behind. Worse, she knew there were more than these two wolves out there in the darkness.

The other wolf made a more brazen attempt at her, so she pushed it back slightly with her magic. She was only barely able to react in time to avoid the swipe of the other's claws. Sweetie screamed, but the two remained unharmed. Another blast was sent forth from her horn, impacting the second wolf straight in the gut. It was sent flying back, colliding directly with the first wolf and leaving them both in a crumpled heap on the ground.

Luna was already running. Her hooves pounded against the dirt as she fled from the scene as fast as she could. "Watch my back!" she called out to the filly riding atop her.

Sweetie didn't respond, though Luna could hear her heavy, panicked breathing. The alicorn knew she had to escape. She had to put distance between herself and these ravenous creatures. If she could subdue or defeat them she would, but at the moment she had no idea how to put these things completely out of commission. They were only vulnerable to basic 'pushing' spells, and there seemed to be a lot of them prowling in the darkness.

Indeed, yet another black wolf was approaching to her right, intending to intercept her. She continued galloping straight ahead as fast as she could, keeping her vision forward and pretending she didn't see the wolf. She watched it through her peripheral vision closely and, when it was less than a yard away, she suddenly turned her head towards it and sent it flying with a concussive blast.

"Luna! Run faster!"

Luna shot a quick glance behind her. Two wolves were chasing her; one was nearly within striking distance, while the other was a little further behind. She panted as she ran, thinking frantically. This wasn't good. She needed to lose these things, and quickly! They could probably smell her, and so the dark fog wasn't enough to conceal them. She would have to time this just right.

After one more glance back, she set her plan into action. She leapt into the air just slightly and used a flap of her wings to turn herself completely around. She landed on the ground again, skidding backwards slightly with her horn already glowing. One of the wolves was leaping at her, though this made her smile. With one powerful shot from her horn, the wolf was intercepted in midair and sent flying backwards directly into the one running behind it. The two wolves tumbled over each other and eventually rolled to a stop. Luna didn't see if they got up after that, as she was already long gone.

She continued running for a few more tense moments, seeing no new danger. "Did we…Did we lose 'em?!" Sweetie called to her over the wind rushing past.

"I sure hope so…" Luna replied. She kept running nonetheless, just in case there were other wolves still keeping up the chase. Her eyes scanned the darkness ahead of her, but she could see no new threats.

Sweetie was still breathing heavily. "What're we gonna do, Luna?" she yelled, "How do we beat those things?"

Luna frowned. "The only way so far that I've seen," she spoke, "is you need to knock one into the other. Kinetic magic isn't strong enough to knock them out unless you throw them at something hard like a wall or each other."

She began to lower her speed, but only to a brisk gallop. Danger was gone, but only for the moment. Luna knew it could reappear at any time. "The important thing is to keep them away from us by pushing them back…" She could feel the filly shivering on her back, and she could only imagine what kind of mind-numbing fear she was going through.

"Are they gone…?"

It certainly seemed that way, though Luna couldn't stop her frantically beating heart. "Possibly," she replied, still galloping ahead, "If you see anything chasing us, then you send them back. I will watch the front."

There was a fairly long pause. "But…Luna…" Sweetie's voice could barely be heard, "I dunno how to do that…"

Luna felt her stomach drop. "…What?" she said as she turned her head back slightly.

Sweetie's concerned eyes met her gaze. "I…I can only levitate stuff, and I'm not very good at it. I haven't taken magic class yet."

The alicorn returned her eyes to the front, trying to hide her frustrated expression. She had forgotten just how young her companion was. "It's…That's all right, Sweetie Belle…" she replied stoically, "I will protect you."

"I-I'm sorry…"

Luna turned back and smiled. "No, do not be sorry. It is beyond your control. It would be unwise of me to get angry at such a thing."

Sweetie was about to reply, but her words died on her tongue as she saw Luna's expression. She barely had time to turn around and see the wolf in midair, teeth inches from her face, before Luna bolted forward.

"Rrgh!" Luna let out a pained grunt. Sweetie screamed in terror as she stared down at the dark wolf that had managed to sink its teeth into part of Luna's tail. The princess did not let the pain affect her speed, though she was now frantically swinging her tail back and forth, trying to dislodge it.

"Goawaygoawaygoawaygoaway!" Sweetie cried out. As she was holding onto Luna's neck tightly so as not to fall off, she had nowhere to go to escape. She couldn't even back away from the ravenous creature in the slightest, and her heart was pounding as it stared up at her with those empty, glowing eyes.

"Sweetie, hold tight!" Luna yelled loudly. The filly barely had time to react before Luna leapt into the air in a curving motion, making a 360-degree circle in the air. Her tail trailed behind her movements and the wolf came along with it. They were brought to the center of her vision, and she was quick to take advantage of the small window of opportunity. A moment later, Luna's hooves hit the ground on her original trajectory and she continued fleeing, while the wolf tumbled to the ground after taking a direct hit from her spell.

"There's more coming!"

Luna grimaced at those words. She was quickly becoming exhausted. Her body was weak from the lack of food and she was expending so much energy to flee across these barren plains. If this kept up, then she would soon no longer be able to run. Luna panted heavily as she tried to pick up the pace.

Sweetie Belle, meanwhile, was holding on for dear life. She had a death grip around the alicorn's neck, trying desperately to keep herself from being thrown off by her wild movements. Her head was turned back, keeping a terrified eye on the pursuing creatures. She wasn't sure when the tears had started falling, but she couldn't stop them now. She had never been more terrified in her young life. Not even the return of Nightmare Moon had frightened her this much.

"Lunaaaa!" she whined desperately, severe panic beginning to overtake her. She had to hold on tightly as Luna swiveled herself around once more. The princess let loose a growl as she reoriented herself to be facing the oncoming creatures. Sweetie watched for a moment, then blinked in confusion. They were still moving in the same direction. Another moment later, she noticed the powerful flaps of the alicorn's wings beside her. Luna was flying backwards.

One of the wolves was to her right now, and so she swerved to the right so suddenly that Sweetie let loose a cry of surprise. She fired a small but powerful magic shot at the wolf before it could even react, sending it back to the left. Then, moving as swiftly as she possibly could, she returned herself to the center. The wolves were lined up perfectly now. Quickly, she lit up her horn with such a ferocious intensity that Sweetie had to shield her eyes.

"_BEGONE!_" Luna exclaimed before sending out a huge blast of kinetic energy that glowed like the full moon. The wolves' eyes shot open in surprise briefly before they were both impacted by the powerful force. The front wolf was knocked into the other one with such tremendous force, and they were both sent even further back by the power of the magical wave. Sweetie watched in awe as the magic continued to push back into the darkness, not dissipating in the slightest.

Luna let out an exhausted sigh, righting herself in midair and resuming her forward gallop. She was panting as she ran, and her horn appeared to be steaming just slightly.

"…Wow…" was all Sweetie could say.

Luna was completely spent. What little energy she had left was being dedicated towards running. She had intended that blast to knock out _all_ of the wolves that were trailing them, so she had to believe that they were in the clear now. They had to be, as she was hardly in a condition to fight back any further.

Her mission was now to find a place to hide.

"Prin- I mean, Luna…! That was incredible."

Luna allowed herself a proud smile. "Thank you, Sweetie Belle."

"I think they're all gone!"

"Good…"

Luna was lighting her horn, guiding her way blindly through the misty darkness. Her chest was burning as she panted, and she desperately wanted to just lay down and rest. Not nearly as much, however, as she wanted to eat something.

* * *

Sweetie Belle hung on tightly as Luna continued to gallop away. Her heart was still racing after the alicorn's impressive spell. She had never before witnessed magic as powerful as that. It was absolutely incredible to see.

She could only hope that she would one day be able to cast magic like that.

A low grumble reached her ears, and for a brief moment she was frightened. She calmed herself, however, when she realized what it was.

"Are you hungry too?" she asked.

Luna let out a strained breath. "I just…need to get us somewhere safe…"

Sweetie Belle frowned. The pains in her stomach were agonizing for the young foal, but she was trying not to complain. She could tell that Luna already had enough on her mind without having to hear her whine about food pains.

"There's….nothing here…" Luna murmured.

Sweetie cast a glance over her shoulder, still wary of those evil-looking wolves. She saw nothing chasing them, which was a huge relief. When she turned back to the front, her eyes shot open wide. "Luna! Watch out for the trees!"

"What trees? ACK!"

The princess was barely able to slam on the brakes, stopping inches before the first tree. She blinked as she gazed up the length of the gnarled, aged bark and then looked beyond it at the multitude of trees that lay further ahead. "What is-"

Sweetie was suddenly thrown forcefully from the princess' back, sailing through the air with a startled cry. Something had impacted the alicorn's side, dislodging her forcibly. The filly struck the ground and rolled a couple of feet, grunting and crying out in pain. She lay there, dizzy for a brief moment, before her ears picked up a truly horrifying sound.

Luna was screaming. Terrifying, blood-curdling cries rang loudly through the air. The princess screamed out repeatedly in anguish, the intense pain clear in her voice. Sweetie Belle was shocked. She tried to focus on her surroundings, but all she saw was darkness.

As soon as the filly tried to stand up, however, pain shot through her rear-right leg and she fell back onto her rump with a cry. She cast her head about frantically, ignoring the pain and trying to find Luna. The princess in distress was nowhere to be seen, and her cries were so loud that it was difficult to figure out where they were coming from.

"Luna!" she exclaimed, both invigorated and terrified. She unsteadily got to her hooves once more. She could hear deep, vicious growling sounds beneath the princess' loud cries. Luna needed help! She tried to focus on the direction the sounds were coming from, as she was otherwise blind as a bat.

She turned to the left, but then began to back up frantically. She let out a cry of terror as she stared up at the menacing creature that towered over her. The huge wolf was crouched and ready to pounce, glaring at her with vicious, hungry eyes. Her blood ran cold as she stared wide-eyed at the predator.

She carefully moved her hooves and slowly backed away. "N-n-n-n-nice d-doggy…" The dark wolf was emitting a very low, rumbling growl that shook Sweetie's heart. It was baring its razor sharp teeth, drool dripping as it stared at what would probably be an easy meal.

The tiny unicorn began to heave panicked breaths. "L-Luna…?" she spoke, completely afraid to speak loudly lest she cause the creature to leap onto her and tear her apart. She gulped, sweat pouring down her face. Her young mind could barely process what was happening. There was no way to escape from this creature that she could see, and Luna's pain-filled cries told her that nopony could help her. It was going to attack her, and she was going to die.

"Help…" she squeaked before pain shot through her back hoof again and she collapsed to the ground on her stomach. The wolf approached and stood over her, showing all of its teeth and seemingly grinning in victory.

Tears were streaming down her face as so many thoughts ran through her head. She thought about her happy, carefree life in Ponyville that she would never return to. She thought about her friends, her family, and especially her wonderful sister whom she would never see again. There was the cutie mark she would never get, and the life she would never get to live. She hiccuped as her breath caught in her throat. _It's not fair…_ was her only thought.

She never even got to learn how to use magic.

The wolf raised one of its large paws into the air, its razor-sharp claws standing out against the churning fog. Three perfect weapons sharper than most knives. Before the strike came, her heart nearly stopped on its own. Would it hurt? Would she die quickly? _Why did this have to happen?!_

The wolf swiped its claws down at her.

"_Go away!_"

Sweetie shut her eyes and waited for the mortal blow to come, but it never did. Instead, she briefly felt tingly all over her entire body, and then the wolf cried out in surprise. There was the sound of something tumbling on the ground. Realizing that she was still in one piece, and unharmed to boot, Sweetie cautiously opened her eyes.

The wolf was lying sprawled on the ground many meters away from her, barely visible through the darkness. She blinked, wondering what had happened. Luna's awful cries told her that the princess had not intervened.

It was then that she realized that a part of her was still feeling tingly, and it felt quite warm too. Her eyes crossed as she looked straight up at the tiny horn on her forehead, which was faintly glowing white. "Did I…just…"

The wolf's growl recaptured her attention. It was back on its feet and glaring menacingly at her. It stepped forward a few times and crouched into a pouncing position. The terror from before returned, making her heart pound in her chest. To make matters worse, a second wolf had appeared behind the first, also standing and ready to attack.

_Go away…_ These wolves couldn't be here if she wanted to stay alive. They had to leave. _Go away._ Sweetie knew she had to force them back. She had to force them away. _Go away! _They were approaching her, ready to attack. They were _already_ attacking Luna! Sweetie grit her teeth and stared at the approaching wolves, fear battling with resolve. _They had to go away!_

The area around her brightened as she felt a surge of energy flow through her body and into her horn. Sweetie could feel her emotions being pushed through her and out into her magic. She wanted so badly for the wolves to just go away, and so she used that determination. She latched onto that desire and forced it out. The glow intensified until it was sent forth from her horn as a shimmering wave of magic.

The wolf in front didn't have time to react before the force hit it, sending it flying back. It crashed directly into the second wolf's snout, causing it to let out a loud cry of pain. The two both tumbled over each other violently, disappearing into the darkness.

Sweetie Belle's heart swelled with pride as a huge smile appeared on her face. She had just used kinetic magic! She'd learned a spell! So much wonderful, happy energy was filling her up that she felt like dancing and singing. In her darkest moment when she'd needed it the most, she had learned how to perform the spell that would be most useful to the two of them.

Another tortured cry from Luna brought her back to reality. Luna's voice had grown much weaker. She had been reduced to letting out sputtering whines of torment. Sweetie immediately set herself into action, dashing towards where she thought the sound was coming from. The swirling darkness was confusing, and she got turned around a couple of times. Eventually, however, she came upon the princess.

Sweetie Belle gasped in horror as her eyes shot open wide. There was only one dark wolf attacking Luna, but she was fiercely losing the battle. The wolf had mauled her across her entire body, coating her fur with blood and nearly making her entirely red. She was in bad shape, as lashes and gouges covered her body and a pool of blood was forming beneath her. Her horn was glowing faintly as she tried to call up a defensive spell, but ultimately could not. Sweetie had to keep herself from throwing up.

The wolf saw her but it ignored her, not seeing her as a threat. She knew she had to act fast. Luna wouldn't survive much longer if she didn't do something. But was it already too late? Luna was barely fighting back now. She had lost so much blood and seemed to be completely out of energy.

With tiny tears in her eyes, Sweetie grit her teeth and aimed her horn directly at the vicious beast. It was not difficult at all to call forth the energy needed for the spell at all. Luna was in trouble, and Luna needed her.

The wolf was sent flying back a few meters from Sweetie's kinetic spell, partially disappearing into the darkness. It regained its footing quite easily, however, and glared back at the filly that had attacked it with rage in its eyes. Sweetie cantered forward until she was standing next to Luna, who was panting heavily as she lay upon the ground.

The beast stood before them, silhouetted and hidden by the darkness that surrounded it. Only its yellow eyes stood out, shining through like a beacon. It gave one low, rage-filled growl and crouched down. It was ready to attack, but so was Sweetie Belle.

The spell coursed into her horn and gathered power, the glow around it intensifying. Already, this spell was becoming like second nature to her now. It was as if she'd been casting it all her life. The glow got brighter and brighter, and Sweetie barely noticed the duller, blue glow coming from beside her. The wolf began to leap towards them, but Sweetie's spell was ready. She would make this wolf _go away!_

A powerful, shimmering field of energy coursed forward, distorting the air around them. In a split second the wolf had disappeared, having been hurtled yards upon yards away by the spell. A huge smile, a mix of amazement and pride, found its way onto Sweetie's face.

In front of her, Luna groaned in agony as she rolled herself onto her stomach. Her wings spread out from her sides, looking notably undamaged. "_Get on! NOW!_" Sweetie didn't need to be told twice. She mounted herself onto the princess' back as quickly as she could, barely managing to get a firm grip before the Princess took off into the air.

They flew fast, but at a low altitude, quickly leaving the horrific scene behind them. Sweetie glanced again at Luna's wings, which were picture-perfect aside from a few ruffled or missing feathers. It was so strange to see, especially since Sweetie could feel her hooves getting covered in the princess' gushing blood. She grimaced and shivered, wondering how the princess was flying at all.

She could hear Luna heaving ragged, painful breaths as she shot forward through the darkness. The alicorn was pushing herself beyond her limits. Sweetie couldn't even imagine the pain she must have been going through.

The filly had glanced back a couple of times, but could see no more wolves chasing after them. Presently, she had her gaze trained to the front. She was keeping a lookout for obstacles, as she wasn't entirely sure that Luna could see properly. For a few tense minutes, there was nothing but darkness.

"Luna! Trees!"

Luna groaned loudly as she slowed herself down, enduring the pain. She glanced around at the trees that were now surrounding her on all sides, each one completely barren of leaves and climbing up into the darkness above so she could not see the tops. She panted a few more times, her breath sounding incredibly forced and abnormal, and then galloped towards one of the trees. With one final flap of her wings, Luna propelled the two of them straight up towards one of the branches of the trees.

She didn't land; she collapsed onto the fairly high tree branch on her stomach, her legs dangling in the air beneath her. Finally able to lay still, she clenched her eyes shut and let out a long, loud cry of immense pain. She wailed out into the empty air until she finally ran out of breath and lay panting on the thick branch.

Sweetie climbed off of her back carefully. She stood upon the branch and gazed at the princess with concern in her eyes. "Luna…?" she spoke quietly, "Are you gonna be okay…?"

Luna simply lay there panting. Her breath was coming in ragged, irregular pants, and it sounded like she was in pain with every inhale. She didn't reply, but a faint glow appeared around her horn.

"L-Luna…?" Sweetie watched for a few agonizing minutes as Luna lay upon the branch. Her horn continued to glow, but she never moved. Sweetie didn't know what to do or what to say. So much worry was rushing through her. She could feel it in the put of her stomach, and it felt so horrible. For all she knew, Luna could be dying in front of her and she couldn't do anything.

Then suddenly, Luna took in a huge, loud gasp of air. Sweetie's eyes shot open as the princess began to take deep, clear breaths. After a few of these, Luna angled her head slightly so she was looking up at the filly.

"Punctured lung," she explained as Sweetie grimaced, "Fixed it…"

"Luna, are you okay?" Sweetie spoke, stepping closer to the princess.

Luna still did not move. There was still blood leaking from all over her, dripping to the ground below. When she spoke, she spoke slowly and sounded incredibly weak. "I…I am hurt," she spoke simply, "I have taken a lot of damage…"

Tears welled up in Sweetie's eyes. "Luna…Please…"

Luna simply lay there panting.

"Luna…Don't leave me…Please…" Sweetie sniffled, "I…I can't do this without you…"

She offered the filly a weak smile. "Do not worry, Sweetie Belle…I will be okay."

Sweetie's ears perked up. "You will?"

Luna nodded slowly. "I will mend myself…with a healing spell…" she continued. After that, the faint glow returned to her horn, and Sweetie understood what it signified.

"So…You'll be all better?" she asked, hope filling her voice.

Luna let her eyes drift closed. "I do not have much energy left…" she spoke weakly, "It may take a long time…"

Relief flooded over Sweetie Belle. She sat on her haunches on the tree branch, heaving a sigh of relief. She raised her hoof and wiped the tears away from her eyes, sniffling slightly. "Thank goodness…" she murmured, "I…I thought I'd…lost you…"

Luna let out a dry chuckle. "I can't be gotten rid of that easily."

"I just…I don't know what I'd do without you…" Sweetie shivered at the thought. She didn't even want to consider the possibility. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Luna didn't respond. Sweetie gazed at her and saw that the glow had vanished from her horn. "Luna?"

The alicorn inhaled sharply, her eyes opening once more. "Ah…" she muttered, lighting her horn with the glow of magic once again. Slowly, she craned her neck and gazed up at the filly once more. "Sweetie…I need your help."

Her eyes opened wide. "My help?"

"I…I can't let myself fall asleep while I do this," she explained, "If I lose consciousness, then the spell will be interrupted." She paused and glanced away, "If I fall asleep, then…I might die."

Sweetie gasped in utter horror.

"But," Luna quickly reacted, speaking in a reassuring tone, "it's okay, Sweetie Belle. All I need you to do is keep me from passing out while I cast my healing spell."

"Oh? Um…Okay…" Sweetie said uncertainly, "Wh-what should I do…?"

Luna suddenly groaned loudly in pain, gritting her teeth. "Augh…" she moaned, "Just…talk to me, Sweetie. Keep a conversation with me. Just don't stop talking to me…and I'll be okay."

The dim glow from her horn was now encompassing her entire body. It was so faint that it was difficult to even see, but it was there. Sweetie could see that even this faint amount of energy was causing her a lot of strain. Intense worry was filling her up, casting her into doubt and anxiety. She bit her lip and said, "Um…Uh…I dunno what to talk about…"

"Anything you like, Sweetie Belle," Luna replied, still sounding incredibly weak, "How about this? Pretend as if you and I have never met. We shall introduce ourselves to each other."

"Oh, um…Okay…" Sweetie figured that the instructions were simple enough, but she still felt very anxious. She was afraid that she would somehow do something wrong. "Hello there," she began, "Uh, my name is Sweetie Belle! What's yours?"

Luna smiled, gazing up at her with very tired eyes. "Why hello, Sweetie Belle. My name is Luna. I am…I am the Princess of the Night and the Goddess of the Moon."

Sweetie Belle pondered for a moment, thinking about what she would say if she had never even heard of Luna before. "Really? Wow, that sounds neat. What do you do?"

"I rule Equestria alongside my wonderful coregent and dear sister, Princess Celestia. I use my magical abilities to raise the moon into the sky at night, and then when the night is over, I lower the moon to make way for the sun."

"Wow, that's amazing, Luna!" Sweetie replied, now feeling much more comfortable, "That sounds like a difficult job."

"Ah, tis not difficult at all. After all, tis what my cutie mark shows. But young Sweetie Belle, I am more interested in you. Tell me a little bit more about yourself, if you would be so kind."

"Oh, okay! I live in Ponyville! It's such a pretty town, and everypony that lives there is so nice and friendly. You should stop by some time! Umm…I go to Ponyville Elementary School, where Miss Cheerilee teaches us class. She's the best teacher in the whole world, Luna. I have so much fun when she's teaching us, and she's just so nice!"

"She sounds wonderful," Luna replied with a smile, "Tell me more. Who do you live with?"

"Well, sometimes I live with my mom and dad, but usually I stay with my sister Rarity! She has her own place in Ponyville which is actually a fashion boutique! Rarity's a really good sister, even if she can be kind of a stick in the mud sometimes. Don't tell her I said that; she hates mud."

Luna giggled.

"I have lots of friends in Ponyville too! My two best friends and I are in a club called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and it's our solemn duty to find out what our special talents are! They're Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, my two best friends in the whole world!"

"They all sound lovely, Sweetie. I'll have to meet them some time."

"Y…Yeah…" Sweetie paused and hung her head slightly, her mouth falling into a frown.

"What- Ahk…What's wrong?"

She sniffled. "I'm sorry, Luna. I just…Talking about my friends and family…I just realized how much I miss them…"

"Oh…Well, Sweetie you're not alone. I miss my sister too. I miss everypony I knew back home…"

"I…" she choked up, "What if I never see them again?"

"Don't talk like that, Sweetie. You have to believe that you will. You have to know in your mind that we will find a way home and that we will see our loved ones again."

"I…I just dunno, Luna…"

Luna paused, her glow still as dull as it was before. "Sweetie…" she spoke, "Tell me what you would do if you were home right now."

Sweetie looked up. "Huh?"

"Pretend you were back home in Ponyville. Tell me what your day would be like. Tell me all of the fun things you would do."

Sweetie sniffled again, trying to hold back her tears. "Um, well…" she said, "If I was at Rarity's place, then she would have to wake me up. Heh, I can never wake up on my own, but once Rarity tells me to get up, I don't sleep in. We go downstairs and she makes breakfast. I tried making breakfast once, but…I dunno if I'll try that again."

"Oh dear…" Luna said bemusedly.

"Yeah…Heehee…Then I'll go walk to school. I try to sit next to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo if I can. Miss Cheerilee doesn't have a seating plan, so we can sit wherever we want. Mostly though, I just try to stay away from Diamond Tiara."

"Oh? Who is that?"

Sweetie scrunched her nose and pouted. "She's this really mean bully. I dunno why, but she's _always_ picking on me and my friends. Well, that's not true; I _do_ know why." There was a pregnant pause. "It's…because we're blank flanks."

"Blank…flanks?" Luna said, momentarily confused. "Oh…You mean because none of you have your cutie marks."

"Yeah…"

"I've…never heard that name before. That's terrible…"

"They're so mean. They pick on anypony without a cutie mark. I really wish I had mine, Luna. I want it, just so they'll leave me alone…"

"Oh, Sweetie…" Luna interjected, "You shouldn't speak like that."

"Huh?"

"Well, I just mean to say that is not a very good reason to want your cutie mark so badly. A cutie mark is something that is special to you as a pony. It will become a part of who you are once you have it. You shouldn't be trying to rush it just so that bullies will leave you alone."

"I know. I'm really looking forward to it too, and I'll be so happy once I get it…but mostly I just want Diamond Tiara to stop…"

Luna paused once again. "Sweetie…" she began, speaking slowly and clearly, "I want you to understand something, okay? This Diamond Tiara is not behaving as she should. She is wrong in her ways, and you should try to not let anything she says get to you."

Sweetie didn't reply.

"I…I have had my own bullies too, Sweetie."

"Y-you have…?"

She nodded. "From long ago. They would anger me, and push me to do things that I would not normally have done. I have many regrets because of what they did to me, and every day I think back and wish I had handled them in a better way."

"I…Luna…"

Luna smiled softly, the glow around her intensifying just slightly. "Be happy with who _you_ are, Sweetie. A missing cutie mark does not mean you are incomplete. Nay, it rather means that you are still on your way, and can still enjoy the excitement of the journey. You mentioned that you were a part of the…Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

Sweetie looked up, smiling slightly. "Y-yeah…"

"My, what a charming name!"

"Heehee…Thanks. Apple Bloom came up with it."

"You say you are dedicated to finding your cutie marks? Tell me about what the three of you do."

"Actually, it's four. Apple Bloom's cousin, Babs Seed, joined us too. Well, usually we meet at our clubhouse and we all decide what we're going to do for the day. We try all sorts of things to get cutie marks, and we usually don't say no to an idea, even if everypony thinks it's a bad idea. We've been mountain climbing, scuba diving, ziplining…"

"My, it sounds like quite the adventure!"

Sweetie beamed. "Yeah. Even when we mess up and we don't get our cutie marks, it's still a lot of fun. It's mostly fun because I'm hanging out with my best friends."

"That sounds wonderful, Sweetie Belle. What an excellent idea."

"Yeah…" Sweetie skewed her mouth slightly. "It's still kind of disappointing when we fail so many times, though. I mean, we've tried almost everything there is, and still no cutie marks. We do usually have fun, but sometimes I can't help but go home in a bad mood…" She let her gaze drop. "Rarity and Applejack sometimes tell us that we should stop focusing so much on our marks. I don't think they like it when we crusade…"

Luna had her eyes closed as her horn glowed fairly brightly. Sweetie was concerned that she had fallen asleep, but then she spoke up. "No, Sweetie Belle. I think you should continue crusading with your friends. It is a wonderful idea, and such an enriching way to play with your friends. However, do keep this in mind…"

She opened her eyes and gave the filly a meaningful gaze. "Do your best to keep disappointment far from you. While at the end of the day, you might all still be without your marks, but do not dwell on it. Instead, remember the good times you had. Think about all the fun adventures you have had that day. Talk about them. Laugh about them. While you may be crusading for your cutie mark, remember also that you are crusading with your friends."

Sweetie paused for a moment. She drank in Luna's words, gazing into her deep blue eyes as she was deep in thought. For a moment, no words were spoken. Then, she broke out into a warm smile. "Thanks, Luna…" she said in a heartwarming tone, "You're right. Being with my friends is what's important. It's the most important thing in the world to me…" She hefted a sigh. "That's why we gotta get out of here…"

"Indeed," Luna said with a nod. Sweetie took a moment to gaze at the rest of her body. Some of her wounds had closed up, and much of the blood had faded from her fur. There was still a lot of damage across her body, however. Sweetie again gazed at her folded wings, which were impeccable as ever.

"Luna?" she spoke, "How come your wings didn't get hurt?"

"Hm?" Luna replied, gazing up at her. "Oh, my wings. Well, Sweetie, it's one of the most important things for a pegasus, or even an alicorn, to remember while in combat. If one is being engaged on the ground, protect thine wings. That creature was upon me, but I kept my wings closed the entire time and tried to keep it away from them. After all, I could not much use them on the ground, but I could definitely use them later."

"Wow…" Sweetie mumbled, "That's really smart."

Luna chuckled dryly. "I am from a different time, young Sweetie Belle. A time so far off from yours. Things were not as…simple as they are now."

"Could you tell me about it?"

Luna blinked. "What?"

"Tell me about long ago. Tell me about what Equestria was like before you w-" Sweetie suddenly stopped herself, gazing around anxiously. "Before you…um…"

Luna simply closed her eyes. "Please…" she spoke simply, "I do not wish to hide from my past, Sweetie. It is a terrible event, yes, but it is one that has happened and it is one that I cannot change. You may speak freely of it."

"…"

"You wish to know what life was like before I became Nightmare Moon."

"Well, um…Sorta…" Sweetie mumbled. She gazed back up. "But you don't have to talk about the…um…Nightmare Moon stuff if you don't wanna. I mean _before_ all that…"

Luna chuckled and smiled warmly. The glow surrounding her had increased some more. It was gaining more strength, and more of Luna's wounds were disappearing. "Well, my young friend…" she said, a hint of nostalgia in her voice, "there is so much to tell, yet it is so unclear where to begin. Equestria was a fantastic, magical place back then. It seems like such a different world than today. Oh, how I wish I could go back, just for a day…"

Sweetie Belle sat and listened, enraptured by Luna's fantastic words. She smiled in wonder as Luna wove stories for her, painting wonderful artwork of a magical land from so impossibly long ago.

A few hours passed by.

Sweetie wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep, but eventually both ponies were slumbering softly atop the tree branch. Luna's spell had fully healed all of her injuries, but the stories had not stopped. Sweetie listened intently to every word as Luna carried on and the hours drifted past. When she had finally had her fill, she continued to chat with Luna about life in Ponyville. Laughs were had, a few tears were shed, but both ponies were there with one another, listening to every word.

It was only when utter exhaustion had set in, that the two best friends finally gave in to the warmth of sleep.


End file.
